An Amendment
submitted by Charles Carroll, June 29, 1790 (Courtesy of the National Archives)

At the opening
of the second session Congress killed the troublesome bill for locating the capital
by establishing the rule that all business must begin de novo each session, a precedent
that remained a Senate rule for half a century. At the end of May 1790 the Senate took
up a new residence bill. A month later it named the Potomac River as the site of the
permanent capital and Philadelphia as the temporary residence. In July the president
signed the Residence Act.